Tomorrow and I – Season 1 Episode 1 “Black Sheep” Recap & Review

Episode 1

Episode 1 of Tomorrow and I begins in the future. Dr. Noon is the first female Thai astronaut. She has been in space for 3 years, working on printing actual hearts. She has finally succeeded and will be returning to Earth in 10 days. Waiting for her are her husband, Nont and their pet dog, Harvey. 

However, an accident upon re-entering kills Noon. Her body is being preserved for 100 days before a Buddhist funeral takes place. 2 months have passed and Nont hasn’t been able to move on. He keeps thinking about her and in a flashback, we see their first meeting.

They are students and Noon, a med student is visiting the architecture faculty’s exhibition. Nont’s teachers hate his concept but she is intrigued as he designs a traditional, homely structure for space homes. They bond over loneliness as he hopes his design will alleviate a little bit of the loneliness an astronaut may feel.

At present, he flips through their memories together and he gets an idea when he recalls that their dog has been cloned. Their friend, Dr. Vee has an animal cloning facility. While cloning humans is still illegal, he begs her to clone Noon. She refuses but he convinces her by explaining that Noon can do much for the world with her printing project.

Another flashback shows how she doesn’t judge as she brings up the age-old dilemma of saving a doctor or a criminal. She shares that with her printing project, they wouldn’t have to choose one human over the other.

At present, Vee gives in as she recalls Noon had been the one to encourage her to follow her dream. However, she needs Noon’s brain. Nont visits her family for permission but they refuse. They are a religious bunch and claim Noon is at a better place and they should let her be in peace. But Nont lashes out as he claims religion has made them blind to reason. He heads to the hospital anyway but Noon’s father pulls some strings and refuses to let Nont see her body.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop Nont as he pulls the fire alarm and sneaks in after evacuation. He sobs on seeing her body and recalls their last conversation on Earth. He had asked her to return to him no matter what and she had agreed. Emboldened, he cuts off her head and brings it to Vee. 

The doctor is disturbed but agrees to continue as she hates to see Nont in such a state. The first step is to manually verify any memories the AI identifies as anomalies. Things seem to be going smoothly till they come across something shocking. 

Nont is heartbroken and heads home where he is arrested for desecrating Noon’s body. Noon’s father only wants her back to cremate her but Nont refuses. He is put in jail for 3 years and once he is freed, a man shows up. He introduces himself as Nont.

A flashback shows the anomaly – Noon wants to transition into a man when she is 19. Her sister is the only one who supports her. Her mother gives her the silent treatment while her father emotionally blackmails her to live like a girl. She gives in but she is miserable. She never dates anyone and her sister is surprised when she agrees to marry Nont. She claims it is only so she can get out of the house. 

Nont is heartbroken on seeing the memory but Vee tells him not to doubt Noon’s love for him. The memory resumes and Noon further explains herself. Nont is her new home as he is the only one who loves and understands her. He puts her at ease and lets her be herself. With him, she doesn’t have to pretend and she claims Nont saved her.

Nont goes home and is lost in thought. He recalls their first meeting and she could understand his need to design a home for those who are lonely. He sees the cops via the CCTV and calls Vee to clone Noon the way she wanted. He loves her and wishes her to live her life. 

At present, Noon’s clone hugs him and asks if he can use Nont as his new name. Nont’s happiness is short-lived when Noon shares that the ISA has asked him to join a permanent lunar colonization program in exchange for creating a new identity. He also thanks Nont for helping him be himself and assures him that they can always stay in touch. Their parting is bittersweet as Nont is happy for Noon.

5 years later, Nont is out jogging with Vee when he sees an interview of Noon who has moved on to organ printing. He is introduced as Dr. Nont and asked if he misses home. Noon quotes Nont as he shares that where there is love and understanding, it is home.

Vee and Nont wonder who the lucky person is but are melancholic that there is no place for a black sheep in the world yet. He ends up teasing her about staying fit and she begrudgingly resumes jogging. It seems that they are still in touch with Noon as he has printed a new arm for Vee.

At the end of Tomorrow and I Episode 1, we see the colony on the moon. Noon prints a heart before looking at Earth and smiling. He has a photo of Harvey, Nont and his concept of the space home.

The Episode Review

Well, Tomorrow and I Episode 1 was a pretty surprising watch. This Netflix show does a pretty good job of introducing the Thai version of Black Mirror. It also sets the tone with the stylized depiction of Noon and Nont’s world. However, when we peel back the gimmicks, it uses age-old themes of love, grief, loneliness and identity while implementing futuristic technology.

It also meshes sociology, ethics and morality with the consequences of technology, creating some riveting debates on what is the right path. Should Nont believe in a higher, unknown power and find solace like Noon’s parents or follow physical evidence and find solace in Noon’s clone? The episode never gives a glimpse of the Noon’s family in the aftermath but we can bypass that for the effort the show is putting into giving viewers earnest tales.

It also takes a refreshing approach to the whole cloning trope. Instead of the usual misunderstandings, jealousy and copy vs original angles, the chapter decides to use it as a literal metaphor for transitioning. We’ll be honest, when we started this show, we had no idea what we had signed up for, but tears were definitely not on the agenda.

The angst is bittersweet but gives viewers an open ending with that epilogue. While Vee and Nont think Noon has a partner, for him, his love is still Nont. And while we doubt we will see them again, we wouldn’t mind a reunion.